Kelly Clarkson says her dogs helped her with grief of divorce, wants to 'work on me' now

Kelly Clarkson is getting vulnerable about how she's feeling three years after her divorce.

On Wednesday's episode of "The Kelly Clarkson Show," Clarkson and her guest, Shannen Doherty, discussed moving on after divorce.

"I'm still in the stage of really enjoying me. But after divorce, it can be hard. And after losing a relationship that you thought you would spend forever with this person, that can be hard," Clarkson told the "Beverly Hills, 90210" alum.

Doherty filed to divorce Kurt Iswarienko after 11 years of marriage earlier this year. Clarkson filed to divorce her husband of seven years, Brandon Blackstock, in 2020, and the two spent years engaged in legal battles over a labor dispute, custody and ownership of their Montana ranch. They have two children, 9-year-old River Rose and 7-year-old Remington Alexander.

Clarkson revealed that her dogs have been an unexpected source of comfort through all of this.

"Ever since I've been separated, now divorced, my dogs have been, like, ruling my bed. So I think they would hate the next person that came in," Clarkson joked. "I would cry a lot, as you do when grief happens, and my dog ... Henry would come in and force his head under my arm and just sit there with me. And I was like, 'Is there a man like this around?'

"I like dog love for the moment," Clarkson added.

Kelly Clarkson wants to 'work on me' before starting another relationship

Clarkson is spending some quality time soul-searching post-divorce.

"There's a lot to learn about yourself in a relationship and how you are in a relationship," she said. "I need a little bit of work on me in a relationship to make sure I take care of myself at the same time as somebody else.

"But also I love me, and I love spending time with me," Clarkson added.

Clarkson, in part, processed her divorce by recording her most recent album. For one, she was "very, very angry" when she wrote "Red Flag Collector."

"I know a lot of people have gone through grief or a big tragedy like a divorce and I know it’s a common thing, unfortunately. But there’s nothing common when you’re going through it," she told USA TODAY earlier this year. "It’s very foreign, it’s horrible. A lot of time stupid, stupid (stuff) gets said and you just can’t believe it."

She added, "I’m listening to these songs being released and it’s like (hearing) a different person. It’s three years ago that we separated, so it’s nice to be on the other side of it. There’s no anger or anything, it’s just a different chapter."

This season of the "American Idol" alum's talk show marks a big change for Clarkson as she and her kids moved from Los Angeles to New York City.

"I feel like a weight has lifted. That move (to New York) was very needed," Clarkson told USA TODAY before this season's premiere. "I think the thing I'm most excited about with Season 5, on a selfish level, is just showing up to work smiling and actually meaning it. That's a beautiful gift that you don't realize until you're out of it."

'A fresh start':Kelly Clarkson on her ‘horrible’ divorce, working with Steve Martin